Family Argument Escalates, Two Sons Shot By Stepfather

BRADENTON, FL — A 12-year-old boy was accidentally shot as the result of his stepfather and his brother engaging each other in a firefight earlier this month.

As the Herald-Tribune reports:

Bradenton Police said Joshua Rappola, 36, of Bradenton identified himself to investigators as the shooter. Police identified the 19-year-old man as Rufus Adams of Bradenton.

Charges have not yet been filed in the case.

Bradenton Police received a call about a shooting inside a home in the 1900 block of Sixth Avenue East in Bradenton around 11:30 a.m. Officers found two victims in the home, ages 12 and 19, with gunshot wounds.

The 12-year-old had a gunshot wound to his lower body and was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. His condition was not immediately known. Adams was taken to Blake Medical Center for treatment. His condition also was not immediately known.

According to police, the incident started with a verbal confrontation between Rappola and Adams inside the home. Adams allegedly armed himself with a gun and the stepfather armed himself with a handgun. Rappola fired shots in the direction of Adams that struck the 12-year-old boy.

Once again, we see two things that are troublesome in the gun community: family violence and remembering the basics.

Family violence is something that occurs too often in Concealed Nation stories and in America today.

And here we see a fundamental lack of the basics — if the step-father knew what his firearm was pointed at, there would not have been a gravely injured preteen, and that’s a fact.

Shameful.

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